17/02/2020 On 12 February 2020, the European Parliament approved the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). The former, approved with 401 votes in favour, 192 against and 40 abstentions, ensures predictable preferential access to their respective markets. The latter, with 407 votes in favour, 188 contrary and 53 abstained, guarantees that
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03/02/2020 President Mirziyoyev’s state of the nation address on January 24th provided good insights into the next steps of the modernisation and reform process as the end of the 2017-2021 national development strategy cycle nears. Since 2017, the international community has taken good notice of the rapid progress in Uzbekistan; last year, The Economist magazine
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The significance of President Tokayev’s address at the second meeting of Kazakhstan’s National Council of Public Trust was not so much in the content itself, but in the frank and open manner in which it was delivered. To see the President freely acknowledging some shortfalls of government policy in tackle key socio-economic issues effectively, is
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Representatives of the European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) participated in the 2019 election process as independent observers in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. These elections – the first since Shavkat Mirziyoyev was elected president in 2016 – were held under the slogan “New Uzbekistan – New Elections” and are presented as a milestone in the implementation of
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20/12/2019 In terms of investment and cooperation in Central Asia, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has dominated the economic landscape of Eurasia, largely overshadowing the efforts of other active parties. The enormous scale of the BRI commands the attention of governments, press circles and analysts alike. It is as such, an important challenge facing
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2/12/2019 The end of 2019 is well suited for the review of “peace pipelines”. Pakistan is one of the host countries of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline which enables Turkmenistan to transport gas from the Galkynysh field through Herat, Kandahar (Afghanistan) and Quetta (Pakistan) to Fazilka (India). Pakistan also expressed firm support for the Iran-Pakistan (IP)
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29/11/2019 The leaders of the five Central Asian republics met in Tashkent on 29 November for a historic summit. This is the second annual meeting of the heads of state after the first was held in Kazakhstan in March 2018. Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is credited with providing the initiative for a formalised annual meeting
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28/11/2019 The conclusion of the eighth Sri Lankan Presidential elections on 16 November 2019, has sparked much concern for the democracy of the nation and its people. According to the official results, the election drew to a close with opposition candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) claiming victory, receiving 52.25 percent
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27/11/2019 On November 21, the European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) hosted a closed-door roundtable on ‘Strengthening EU-Viet Nam Defence and Security Cooperation’. This event served as a platform to exchange views on cooperation from European and Vietnamese experts and officials, following the signing of the EU-Viet Nam Framework Participation Agreement (FPA) last month. EIAS
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25/11/2019 11 April 2019 marked a turning point in Sudan’s history with the ousting of al-Bashir, ending his 30-year-long de facto totalitarian rule. Despite Sudan being endowed with large oil wealth, the Sudanese government under al-Bashir faced difficulties in strengthening and diversifying the country’s economy. The mismanagement of the oil industry and its revenues, along
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